Coaching youth softball requires talent, patience, understanding, and, above all, a commitment to those players entrusted to your care. Coaching youth softball is so much more than giving signs from the third base coaching box, or making decisions on personnel.
Today, youth sports demand that the youth softball coach possess qualities that are essential to the position. It won’t guarantee a winning season, or even that all players and their parents will be grateful for your efforts on their behalf. However, if you don’t possess these qualities and fulfill certain roles, you will not succeed in your mission – to help the youngsters continue their development into mature and responsible adults.
Coaching youth softball requires that your play these five key roles:
• Mentor – Coaching youth softball requires you to understand two things – the game and rules of youth softball as well as the goal of your job, which is to help the youngsters grow as individuals. You’ll never be able to be effective in your position if you are not clear yourself on these issues. If you’re not clear on your responsibilities to the team you will not convey the message that your players need to receive.
• Manager – You must be able to manage a number of variables and multi-task, as well. Your team will have players with different personalities and different needs, and your task as a softball coach is to take the best elements and talents of each of your players and to mold them into one functioning unit for the benefit of the team.
• Teacher – Coaching youth softball involves teaching your players a number of lessons – how to work together and perform as a team; how to sublimate personal goals for the team’s goals; how to improve their softball acumen, teach them age appropriate softball drills, and help them become better players. In this manner, your team will also improve.
• Motivator – You can not overestimate the importance of the mental aspects of the game. Coaching youth softball is just not teaching hitting, fielding and throwing skills. It involves raising the level of your team’s play though inspiration and your personal example. Don’t hesitate to draw on examples that your players can relate to for support and inspiration, especially from pros they admire.
• Role Model – Coaching youth softball means that you serve as a positive example for your players to emulate. This includes rendering fair and equitable treatment for all players, regardless of talent.
If you hone these qualities, you will be able to fulfill your goal of coaching youth softball in a manner that both improves the lives of your athletes, parents and families, and also ultimately enriches your own coaching experience.
Watch the video related to youth mentoring
Mass Mentoring Partnership, the umbrella organization for youth mentoring in Massachusetts, has partnered with the Boston Red Sox for the Red Sox Mentoring Challenge. Each year, MMP stages Mentoring Night at Fenway in which 700 mentors and mentees from across the state enjoy a Sox game. The mentors and mentees are also invited to participate in the pregame ceremonies. In this clip, the Raytheon/Stand & Deliver Octet from Lawrence sings the National Anthem; mentees from Childrens Friend …
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About Author
By Trevor Sumner who works for Weplay.com, a youth softball community dedicated to providing parents, coaches and athletes the tools and information they need to celebrate the love of the game. Weplay has one of the most comprehensive softball drill libraries in its active softball community.
Tags: baseball, Big Sister, children, Fenway Park, mentoring, Raytheon, Red Sox, SMILES, Stand and Deliver, Youth
I lost my job 6 months ago, but I've finally found something I can do at home to make some exta money to help make ends meet. By no means am I rich, but every penny helps. Try it yourself. http://www.goodinternetdeals.com/Work-At-Home.html
I've volunteered with several youth programs, and I've had some pretty positive experiences with all of them. I currently work with several programs. I am an active "Big" in the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization:
http://www.bbbs.org
I'm on my second match, and it's been a lot of fun. Even though at times you may not realize the impact that you are making, it's all of the little moments that make it worthwhile.
I also volunteer through my volunteer center to tutor children at the library and work at the local children's shelter. I've found the most variety through the volunteer center:
http://www.handsonnetwork.org/our-network/
http://www.pointsoflight.org/c.....center.cfm
http://national.unitedway.org
It all depends on the type of time commitment, and what you are looking for in a program. If you are looking for a one-on-one match, then I would suggest that Big Brothers is a very good program. If you are looking for general mentoring opportunities, I think your volunteer center may be able to help you find stuff that will have a shorter time frame to get started. In both cases with Big Brothers, it did take quite a bit of time before I was matched, and a longer time in order to build a relationship with my match.
Good luck!
I would start by going to a city hall meeting for the city that you're interested in and see how they operate. After the meeting, talk to the Chair of the commission and see if he or she may be interested in such a program. Then ask them how you can put discussion of this on the next meeting's agenda. You will likely have to give a short presentation of the program and answer questions by council members and other citizens that come to the meetings. It will help if you can get the support of teachers in local schools and make sure that they show up at the meeting to support you.
Hope that helps!
you can make them an exact clone of you!
Watch the new episode of Clone Wars, on Cartoon Channel!
Get involved with area schools, churches, youth groups, sports leagues and scout groups. Write to their community service coordinators (or whoever would best fit this description) and ask to be put on a list of organizations looking for help.
In particular, find out who in your community encourages or requires community service. Ask kids to run small grade-level or school/church/team wide drive for the items you're looking for. Do it in advance so you can bank the bulk of the items for the coming year and fill in as necessary. 5 kids with 20 friends each bringing 1 school item equals 10 filled backpacks. Get a whole school involved and you may be able to cover your program for the year and attract new donations.
Also consider getting volunteers involved in more direct ways. People who are invested in a program are more likely to support it financially.
I run a small non-profit and I've been spreading the word about our program to supply gently used sports uniforms and footwear to kids in rural Mexico. I was just contacted by a family whose 4th grader is interested in running a drive at his school as part of a run for class office. Apparently it's a tradition at his school to prove one's leadership through such a project. I know he won't be able to supply a very large part of what we need, but every little bit helps and the publicity we'll get out of it will be very valuable. We'll run a thank-you in the newspaper, put his face on our website and benefit from the word-of-mouth publicity at his school.
You won't get rich but there are lots of jobs available.
It's stressful though — there is high turnover because of the hours vs. the amount of pay.
You can be a mentor without it being your job — lots of kids need mentors.
(At first I thought you were talking about being a youth pastor)
i would say to talk with a salvation army family shelter director.
You are going to need help to do it. TV stations won't run commercials that don't meet their standards. Hunt down local TV production students or even public-access TV afficionados.
I make my own infomercials for the internet… but making commericals for TV is a different game altogether.,
Big Brothers/Big Sisters is a great mentoring program.